Two Barrow County department directors on opposite sides of the ongoing race and gender discrimination controversy have been issued written reprimands.

The pair of Feb. 10 reprimands were issued by Commissioner Ben Hendrix to Lyn Clement and Norma Jean Brown.

Hendrix is the chairman pro tem of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners, and the board last week directed him to oversee any disciplinary actions related to the recently completed investigation.

Normally, Commission Chairman Danny Yearwood disciplines directors. However, he is one of the two officials accused of race and gender discrimination.

A county investigation cleared Yearwood of discrimination, but found that he had violated county policy by yelling at Brown and others. Yearwood has not participated in closed board meetings concerning the investigation and did not participate in the decision to discipline Clement.

Clement’s reprimand notes that the county’s investigator, David G. Archer of Cartersville, did not feel that Clement had any racial motivation when he talked in October 2009 to two HR employees about senior network engineer Sebastian Ododa. But Archer said whatever Clement said to Michelle Thrasher and Kristi Carey could reasonably have been perceived as offensive.

The two women said Clement had talked about using a “noose” to hang or lynch Ododa, a senior network engineer. But Clement flatly denied saying that.

The written reprimand notes that the Barrow County Employee Handbook prohibits such conduct.

The reprimand reminds Clement that the county government “does not condone, and will not tolerate, any level or type of discrimination based upon race.”

Hendrix also directs Clement to locate an appropriate “management training course,” as Archer recommended. Hendrix writes that it must be approved by the board, paid for by Clement, and documented that it has been completed within six months.

The letter also informs Clement that the BOC is “reviewing the organizational structure” under his direction and that Hendrix anticipates that “changes will be made as a result of this investigation and to ensure the most effective and functional operation for the County.”

Isn't it funny that they discipline the one their biased, self-funded, constrained investigation suggests is credible. Maybe they just spent $50,000 in tax money on a PR campaign to help their image and push the complainants to settle.

The county has a CEO who cannot participate in important meetings because of his misbehavior.

The county has a senior manager who, because of his misbehavior, is relieved of substantial duties, said misbehavior causing him to be ordered to "read" the county's employeed and book and to take a management course at his expense. Why do we have a manager who needs (a) to be told to read the employee handbook, and (b) take a course in management? You'd think the county would expect these prior to employment or continued employment.

The county has a HR director around whom controversy seems to always swirl. Is she more of a liability than an asset to the county?

Rather than clean house in the 2008 election, it seems that Barrow County was cleaned out of decent elected and employed managers and will likely be cleaned out financially before these messes are fixed.

Yearwood and Clement need to be gone. Period. Love the comment about house cleaning. These two have hit rock bottom and started digging. All this at my expense. This whole situation is more bad money after bad money and I for one am fed up with it.

Yearwood= All foam no beer
Clement= Surfing in Nebraska

Neither of them has a clue what they are doing and allow their own frustration with their own ineptitude to boil over into this situation and then, we have to pay for an investigation.

Clement doesn't need to be "trained" he needs to be FIRED and Yearwood needs to resign or face a recall. How much more of these two blithering idiots and their "Management Style" are we going to have to stomach?

I rest my case. Lipstick on a pig.
Fire/recall them both. The sooner the better.

As for Brown, I am not sure what the correct course of action should be for her although it does seem that she has her own issues which need to be handled. Why don't we really clean house and just start from scratch?

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